What’s New in JAWS 10 Public Beta

Thank you for participating in the JAWS 10 English public beta test. This page provides all the necessary details that you need to know. Please take a few moments to review this information and take advantage of the beta report link to provide Freedom Scientific your feedback during the public beta. Choose Download JAWS 10 to go directly to the public beta download links.

Please note that while the final release of JAWS 10 will be a Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA) upgrade, this public beta version will run for anyone with a JAWS license that provides access to JAWS 9. You can verify your ILM authorization by going to www.fsactivate.com, choosing the Continue Product Activation button, and then choosing the link labeled “Verify the number of activation keys available for your Freedom Scientific product.” On this page, enter your serial number to find out if your license is current and what release version is allowed.

For those who do not have a JAWS 9 or later license, you can still install the public beta version and run it using 40-Minute Demo mode.

This public beta version will expire later this year. To use JAWS without interruption, you must continue to update to later versions of the public beta and then to the final release. Please use the Check for Updates feature in the Help menu each week to be sure that you have the most current software.

Technical Support During the Public Beta

While in public beta, general technical support of JAWS 10 is not available using our direct support phone lines. We request that you send feedback directly to Freedom Scientific using the Beta Report form.

JAWS 10 Features

JAWS Release 10 offers several new features and improvements as described on this page. To learn more, read the entire What’s New, or, if you are a JAWS user, press INSERT+F6 to open a list of headings and then jump directly to a specific item.

New JAWS 10 Features Demonstrated in FSCast

Listen to Eric Damery, Product Manager for JAWS, and Jonathan Mosen, Vice President of Blindness Hardware Product Development, discuss the latest JAWS 10 enhancements in the August 2008 FSCast.

Surf’s Up! Surfing the Internet with JAWS

Surf’s Up!, the Freedom Scientific Web page that explains how to surf the Web with JAWS, has been updated to help instructors and students take advantage of the new JAWS 10 features that are mentioned on this page. Pay particular attention to the Forms page. It gives great details for using the new Auto Forms Mode function.

Auto Forms Mode

Traditionally, Forms Mode in JAWS has been activated manually when you needed to type text into edit fields or select combo box values on Web pages and Adobe Acrobat forms. By default, JAWS is in Virtual Mode which allows you to use Navigation Quick Keys such as F for next form field or E for next edit box. When you need to interact with a form in order to type in text, you must manually turn on Forms Mode using the ENTER key. You can toggle off Forms Mode using ESC or the NUM PAD PLUS key.

Auto Forms Mode will automatically turn on Forms Mode when you move into combo box controls using TAB, or edit fields using either TAB or ARROW Keys. This makes if far more intuitive and easy to interact with form fields found on web pages without having to do these extra key strokes. When you press ARROW Keys or TAB to move to an edit field, you will hear a sound indicating you can type at that moment without having to first press ENTER. When you exit the control using an ARROW Key, Forms Mode turns off and will let you easily continue to navigate in virtual mode again. This functionality can be very useful for new and sighted JAWS users in training environments but even long time JAWS users will quickly adapt to this new method with a little practice. By default, Auto Forms Mode is on. There are two ways to turn it off. First, you can press INSERT+V and then change the Auto Forms Mode option to off. Second, you can use the new Forms Mode Options dialog located in Configuration Manager.

RealSpeak Solo Direct Synthesizers

JAWS 10 supports RealSpeak™ Solo Direct synthesizers from Nuance® Communications. These new synthesizers work exclusively with Freedom Scientific products. To listen to samples or download these synthesizers, go to the RealSpeak Solo Direct Voices for Freedom Scientific Products Web page.

Another way to open this page is to use the new RealSpeak Solo Direct link available in the JAWS application window. The link is in Web Resources under the Help menu.

Dictionary Manager Tree View

The Dictionary Manager lets you change the way JAWS speaks words, phrases, abbreviations, or symbols to avoid any mispronunciation. In JAWS 10, the Dictionary manager has been expanded so that you can create rules applying to specific languages, synthesizers, or voices. Once the rule is created, it is added to the top of the Dictionary Entries list. It is identified by language, for example, English, and can be expanded into a tree view to show other restrictions that apply to the rule. To open the Dictionary Manager in any application, press INSERT+D.

Navigation Quick Key Manager

Navigation Quick Keys are convenient keystrokes that let you quickly move around Web pages, PDF files, Word documents, and Outlook e-mail messages. Beginning with JAWS 10, you can now change the keystroke assigned to a quick key with any unassigned letter or number using the Navigation Quick Key Manager. This gives you the flexibility of assigning a character that is easy for you to remember. Any changes that you make are immediately applied to the new quick key assignment. To open a Navigation Quick Key Manager from within an application, press INSERT+F2, N, and then ENTER.

Voice Profiles

The Global Voices and Individual Voices profiles in JAWS have been updated to closely match functionality available in MAGic 11 and later. These profiles let you create and save speech rate, pitch, synthesizer, language, punctuation level, and other speech options. Use the Default and Application radio buttons to apply the voice settings as new JAWS default values or as voice settings to a specific application. For more information about these items, open the JAWS Help file, select the Using JAWS book from the Table of Contents pane, and then open the Voice Settings book.

To open the dialog box for either voice profile, choose Options (ALT+O) from the JAWS application window, select Voices (V), and then select Global Adjustment (G) or Individual Voice Adjustment (I). To change voice profiles on the fly, press INSERT+CTRL+S to open the Select a Voice Profile dialog box, and then select a profile from the list.

Language Menu Changes

The Synthesizer Language and Change Synthesizer commands have been removed from the Language menu in the JAWS application window and been replaced by the Voice Profiles command. This new command lets you select and instantly switch to another synthesizer and voice combination that you set up as a voice profile. For more about voice profiles, open the JAWS Help file, and refer to the Global Voices or Individual Voices topics. These topics are found in Voice Settings in the Using JAWS book.

Unified English Braille or Contracted English Braille Setup

JAWS can now provide contracted braille using either Contracted English Braille, formerly known as grade 2 braille, as defined in translation rules from the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), or Unified English Braille (UEB) as provided by the International Council on English Braille (IECB). Using Braille Options in the Configuration Manager, you can configure JAWS for either method using two new radio buttons: Contracted English Braille (default) and Unified English Braille. The braille translation method can be set up with or without a braille display attached to your system so that it is ready for use when you select the Enable Translator check box.

Reply Directly to Sender on Mailing Lists

The Reply Directly to Sender command, a JAWS command that you can use with Microsoft Outlook, is fully functional in JAWS 10. If you subscribe to a mailing list, this useful command lets you reply directly to the sender’s e-mail address from the open e-mail message instead of the entire mailing list address. The keystroke for this command is INSERT+SHIFT+R.

Downloading Freedom Scientific DAISY Books with FSReader Demo

Starting with JAWS 10, you can use FSReader Demo to download DAISY books directly from the Freedom Scientific Web site. The advantage of this feature over earlier JAWS releases is that you no longer need the product CD to install any of the DAISY books.

You can also use the Check for Updates command to quickly select and download DAISY books. From the Help menu in the JAWS application window, choose Check for Updates, select any DAISY book from the list, and then choose the Install button.

Startup Wizard Change for Say All

The Use SAPI 5 During Say All check box has been removed from the JAWS Startup Wizard. The wizard opens at the end of the installation process, or can be opened from the Help menu of the JAWS application window.

To select a SAPI 5 or RealSpeak Direct Solo synthesizer and voice for Say All, use the Say All controls in the Global Voices or Individual Voices dialog box.

ARIA Live Region Support

JAWS can announce updates to live regions of Web pages when using Firefox 3 and later or Internet Explorer 8 and later. The dynamic section of a Web page that receives constant updates, such as news headlines, business information, and weather updates, is known as a live region. By default, JAWS announces updates for Web pages containing ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) Live Region markup. Web content creators add specific ARIA tags to their pages to mark regions as “live.” To stop JAWS from announcing updates, use the Announce Live Region Updates option to temporarily turn off this functionality. Just press INSERT+V while running your Web browser, navigate to this option, and then press SPACEBAR.

Windows Media Player 11

JAWS 10 supports Windows Media Player 11. For example, to hear the name of the track that is playing, press INSERT+CTRL+T. Also, while navigating a playlist, JAWS announces the track that is playing. Use auto playlist, a Windows Media Player feature that is fully functional with JAWS 10, to create, edit, and save playlists. Finally, with JAWS 10, the Windows Media Player user interface is much more intuitive when using sliders and toggle buttons to control items such as volume, crossfading, shuffle, and repeat.

Microsoft Access 2007

JAWS 10 supports Access 2007. A great deal of work has been done to make sure that Access 2007 users find the out of the box experience working very well for both speech and braille output. JAWS now provides the proper information as you navigate with F6, enter and exit tables, or use Access wizards and dialogs.

Better Performance with Microsoft Outlook Calendar

Significant performance improvements have been made to the calendar in Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003. Script developers will appreciate the streamlining of scripts and internal code. This all leads to enhanced responsiveness, easier script localization, and better handling of date and time announcements.

Run JAWS Without Speech

The Run JAWS Without Speech check box has been removed from the Advanced Options command located under the Set Options menu in Configuration Manager. This check box is now available in the Advanced Options dialog box by choosing Options (ALT+O) from the JAWS application window, selecting Basic (B), and then selecting the Advanced button (D) in the Basic Settings dialog box.

Script Manager Changes

The SelectASynthesizer script (INSERT+CTRL+S) has been changed to the SelectAVoiceProfile script. Its purpose is to allow you to switch from one voice profile to another. Previously, the keystroke would let you dynamically change the speech synthesizer. It now allows you to dynamically change voice profiles.

The SelectALanguage script (WINDOWS Key+CTRL+L) has been removed.

New Keystroke for Reading Clipboard Contents

You can now read the contents of the clipboard at anytime by pressing WINDOWS Key+INSERT+X. This feature was adopted from MAGic where it was first introduced. It will be available for JAWS braille users in Public Beta 2.

New HTML Table Keystrokes

When in a table on a Web page, you can move between and read columns by pressing WINDOWS Key+LEFT ARROW, which reads the previous column, and by pressing WINDOWS Key+RIGHT ARROW, which reads the contents of the next column. Select JAWS Commands for HTML for additional table keystrokes.

Back to top from JAWS 10 Features

Download JAWS 10

The following briefly describes how to download and install the JAWS 10 public beta release.

1. Select either the FTP or the HTTP download link that appears at the end of this procedure.
2. When the dialog box opens, choose Save and select a location where you can easily find the downloaded executable file.
3. Run the executable and follow the talking installer.

• JAWS 10.0.334 - August 2008 English (71.2 MB - FTP download).

• JAWS 10.0.334 - August 2008 English (71.2 MB - HTTP download).

Check for Updates

To check for updates after installing the public beta release, do the following:

1. Press INSERT+J to open the JAWS application window.
2. Press ALT+H to open the Help menu.
3. Press P to select Check for Updates. The update feature determines if you have the most current release. If you do not, select one or more items from the list and then select INSTALL to begin the update. All enhancements since the initial public beta release are included in the update.

 

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